rmlumley

Turning 30…

In less than an hour, I’ll leave my 20s and turn 30. I doubt I’ll feel different tomorrow morning, but I thought this would be a good time to answer one question about my life.

What would the 15 year old version of me think about the 30 year old version?

First, a quick inventory of my life:

• UW-Madison degree
• Happily married for nearly 5 years. With the same girl for nearly 12 years.
• Owned a house for over 5 years
• Fun & healthy 4 1/2 month old son
• Three jobs for two organizations since college
• Building websites for over 6 years
• Working on the campus I love
• Great friends
• Numerous trips, concerts and live sporting events attended

The big negatives, obviously, would be the death of both of my parents and my Aunt Bette. I think about all 3 every day.

Overall though, I think my 15 year old self would be happy about my current life. My 20s have been fantastic and I’m looking forward to seeing what my 30s have in store.

Thoughts on being an Expectant Father

It is April 2 and my wife is currently 38 weeks pregnant. Sometime in April, the most important thing that will ever happen to me will occur and I don’t know when it will happen.

It is a very, very strange feeling.

So, I thought I’d write about a few of my favorite things about being an expectant father.

• Nesting

  Honestly, the father doesn’t really have a lot to do during pregnancy so I found nesting to be a helpful thing for idle hands. In preparation of the baby, we did much more than just the Nursery. We finally put in a privacy fence and redid our basement along with minor modifications to the dining room, kitchen, living room, bedroom & bathroom.

• Baby Gear

  I enjoyed researching cribs, car seats, strollers, pack n plays and every other piece of baby gear you could imagine. Also, the technology around a lot of this baby gear is incredible. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to put everything together.

• Books

  I read quite a few books about pregnancy and parenthood. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but it’s fun to learn about a subject that you suddenly care a lot about.

  More importantly though, it was fun to rediscover a lot of the children’s books that I grew up reading. I had forgotten how fun and enchanting these books were.

• Generosity of Friends and Family

  We’ve had three baby showers and I’ve been blown away at the generosity of coworkers, friends and family. It’s nice to have a reminder of all the important people you have in your life.

I know this post is a bit saccharine, but thats where I am in life right now. And guess what? I’m fine with that.